30 January 2009

tarryn and meggan


Tarryn, 21 (left) and Meggan, 20 (right) are students at the University of the Western Cape. Here's what they had to say about their internship at seventeen!


Day 1
Tarryn: When I arrived I was terribly nervous as I didn't know what to expect. I immediately thought of The Devil Wears Prada. I feared I would be the slave to a glamourous fashion guru who ate inexperienced interns, such as myself, for breakfast. To my delight it was quite the opposite, the team at seventeen were friendly and helpful. I sat in on a meeting, which made me feel welcome and helped me gain insight into what it takes to put a magazine together. I had no idea that there were so many different aspects involved in the magazine. I felt like a child in a candy store being surrounded by real-life editors and writers. The opportunity to intern showed me first-hand what it means to be part of a magazine and I realised I had a lot to learn, but my dream of being behind-the-scenes at a respectable and highly successful magazine had just come true. My first day proved to be a great success!
Meggan: I had this feeling of nervousness come over me when I arrived but that soon disappeared soon after I met Liza who introduced me to the rest of the team. Everyone was so friendly! The first task I was given was to search for celebs on the Net and give an update on their whereabouts and latest activities. It was fun to find out what the stars have been up to lately. Then I was asked to distribute points to seventeen’s UrbanScouts (sign up to be a Scout on www.seventeen.co.za). I think it’s great that seventeen has such a close relationship and interaction with their loyal readers. These two tasks seem fairly simple, but they were actually quite time consuming. I also had the opportunity to sit in on a meeting to discuss the next issue. It was very enlightening and impressive when I heard about all the things that had to be considered for just one issue. The office atmosphere is quieter than what I had expected which leaves you feeling calm, but there’s also lots of laughter and fun.

Day 2:
Tarryn: I enjoyed sitting in on the meetings and felt inspired by the energy and creativity of the editorial team. The meetings were productive and at the same time encouraged the contribution of fresh ideas and opinions. I admired the freedom that each person felt to express their ideas and that each contribution was well received and taken into account. The topics discussed are important to girls in society and it was nice to know that the content being produced is properly researched. Each member of the seventeen team is unique and their personalities contribute to their work. I could not believe I was given the incredible opportunity to write a piece in the March issue. I liked the fact that I was treated with the same level of respect as the other staff members. I definitely feel I picked the right career and I’m happy my studies weren’t in vain.
Meggan: The reason why I wanted to intern at seventeen was because I wanted to know how things really worked behind-the-scenes of a magazine. I wanted some confirmation that this is still what I wanted to do. Today I continued updating the celeb list. Liza took some time out of her busy schedule to explain the ins and outs of putting together a magazine, which I found very enlightening. It was interesting to hear about the long procedure and all the channels the dummy book has to go through just to get published. When I looked at their dummy book with all the changes on it I didn’t realise how much they work and rework the details. Later I was allowed to sit in on a meeting where the team discussed the content of the March issue and which features to use or lose. I couldn’t believe how much fun I was having just by listening to their ideas and being in the same space. Putting together a magazine is really hard work but you don’t even notice it because you have so much fun while doing it. After today I definitely know that this is still the field I want to go into. Before I knew it, the day was over. Time flies when you’re having fun!

Day 3:
Tarryn: I worked with Meggan on our piece for the March issue, and enjoyed phoning our guy friends to ask them what they would want to know about the girls they are dating. I enjoyed every minute of my three days at seventeen. I really liked the environment. I cannot wait to enter the media industry next year!
Meggan: Today I worked together with Tarryn on piece for the March issue. We had so much fun! We also decided to get an insiders opinion on the questions so we made a call or two to our guy friends who really helped us out. It was nice getting people involved as well. I sat in on another meeting today where the team discussed a timeline and I learnt that it is so much more convenient to start way in advance in order to meet your deadlines. I also helped put the new dummy book together. It was interesting to see yet again how they pay close attention to detail. All in all, my time here was spectacular and I enjoyed myself more than I thought. A part of this feeling comes from the team where there’s a perfect environment and never a conversation without a laugh!